Influential Businesswomen in the Cannabis Industry

The nascent cannabis industry requires talented entrepreneurs and leaders to take it forward. Luckily, women are stepping up and giving this industry the entrepreneurial talent it requires. Women in the cannabis industry hold nearly 27 percent of leadership roles – 6 percent more than traditional businesses.
In this post, we will meet nine women in the cannabis industry who are shaping the industry with their business acumen.

1. Nancy Whiteman

Nancy Whiteman is the founder and CEO of Wana Brands which produces and sells cannabis-infused edibles in six states. What makes her stand out from others selling marijuana edibles are sour gummies – the colorful, sugary gummies that represent a multi-million dollar FMCG category. Wana Brands produced cannabis-infused sour gummies and they are a big hit. She is unlike other women in the marijuana industry.

2. Jill Ellsworth

Jill has dedicated her life to creating solutions for better living. She began her endeavor as a nutritionist and is continuing her passion by serving as the CEO of Willow Industries. Marijuana’s uses are well documented and so are the dangers of consuming contaminated marijuana. Her company manufacturers WillowPure – a microbial decontamination product which many producers are using to deliver safe weed to their customers.

3. Giadha Aguirre De Carcer

Here is a woman who had her name on the list of “most powerful women in Washington 2017”. Her company, New Frontier Data is an analytics company specializing in the cannabis market. The cannabis industry is growing and Giadha Aguirre De Carcer is aiding the growth by providing data and analytics solutions to investors, operators and other cannabis leaders.

4. Sara Gullickson

Last year when Sara Gullickson became CEO of Item 9 Labs Corp., she also became the first woman in the cannabis industry to head a publicly traded cannabis company. Under her leadership, Item 9 Labs Corp. has become the parent company of multiple brands and is prepared to venture into the natural lifestyle market of the industry.

5. Brianna Kilcullen

Brianna Kilcullen is a sustainable clothing expert who has previously worked with Under Armour before striking out on her own with her company called We the People. While most people think about marijuana as something you consume, Brianna thinks of it as a sustainable fiber for the textile industry. Her company is set to launch the first sustainable line of all-hemp towels made from 100% hemp fibers.

6. Cynthia Salarizadeh

Marijuana has an image problem and Cynthia Salarizadeh is putting her fifteen years of media and public relations experience into solving it. Her company SalarGroup is a cannabis focused public relations consulting firm. She is also the co-founder of a few other companies including House of Saka which launched the world’s first cannabis-infused wine.

7. Karson Humiston

Joining the other amazing and influential women in the cannabis industry is Karson Humiston whose employee recruitment platform ‘Vangst’ is bridging the gap between recruiters and job seekers in the marijuana industry. Vangst has connected more than 7,500 people with jobs at 800 leading cannabis companies around the US and Canada.

8. Cassandra Farrington

The marijuana industry has just started getting shape and the pioneers in the industry are also figuring things out as they go. Cassandra Farrington noticed a lack of information about the industry and thus, she started the Marijuana Business Daily. The Marijuana Business Daily made it to Inc.’s most inspiring companies list of 2018 and made her an important figure in the cannabis industry.

9. Wendy Robbins & Karen Paull

The Shark Tank of the cannabis industry is The Marijuana Show created by Wendy Robbins and Karen Paull. But rather than roasting possible entrepreneurs, the couple educates them through their educational arm, Bud Camp and connect them with investors. The couple is often considered as one of the most important women in the marijuana industry owing to their efforts in de-stigmatizing weed.